So far, the results to me have been surprising. I should have asked that you include the type of vehicle you are talking about, because sometimes (1) and (2) are dependant, and sometimes they can be mutually exclusive.
For example, in another thread, I presented mathematics, an economics lesson, that actually destroyed the 'myth' of 'cheap insurance', by showing that for what a person spends extra on overly frequent oil changes, they could actually buy a new engine, if not almost buy half a new car just on the discounted growth of the savings associated with extending drains. The issue there was, what would you rather have? a car that lasts to 300,000 miles and $10,000 in your pocket for a replacement, or a car that lasts to 400,000 miles and no $$$ for replacement? If the car is a Porsche, the extra 100k miles of engine life might be attractive as Porche's have huge replacement/overhaul costs, but if you are talking about a mid 90s Chevy, most would agree that money in pocket is a better deal.
So just to clarify, I am particularly interested in the difference between (1) and (2). Longer engine life will
not necessarily yield overall lowest per mile ownership cost. Just trying to understand how many BiTOG'ers are cognizant of the difference, or even care about the difference.
Thanks all for participating. Keep the comments rollin.